Privilege, Power and Difference

 

In Privilege, Power, and Difference, Alan Johnson challenges the way we usually think about inequality. Instead of focusing on individual attitudes or personal morality, he asks us to look at the larger systems that shape people’s lives. His main argument is that privilege is not about being intentionally harmful or unfair. It is about how social systems are set up to benefit certain groups while putting others at a disadvantage, often without anyone having to actively choose it.

What resonated with me most is Johnson’s idea that privilege exists whether or not we recognize it. A person does not have to ask for privilege, believe in it, or even be aware of it in order to benefit from it. That idea can feel uncomfortable, but it makes a lot of sense. It pushes back against the belief that success is only about hard work. Effort matters, but effort alone does not explain why some people have access to more opportunities than others from the very beginning. Johnson also talks about how these systems continue because they feel normal. When inequality becomes routine, it stops being questioned. That normalcy makes privilege harder to see and easier to ignore, especially for people who benefit from it.

A clear example of what Johnson describes can be seen in the education system, particularly at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island, where i spent some time working in last semester.  Central Falls High School serves a community that is overwhelmingly Latino and largely low income. Because of socioeconomic status and racialized segregation, the school has historically had less access to a high quality curriculum and educational resources than schools in wealthier districts nearby. This gap has nothing to do with the intelligence or potential of the students. It has everything to do with how schools are funded and prioritized. In my experience both the students and teacher i was working with seemed unmotivated. The kids were more worried about their phones than their work and they didn't care about test scores or even passing for the year. Students worked on their laptops the whole time while the teacher did her own thing at the desk with minimal interaction with the students. 

Students in wealthier, mostly white districts are more likely to have access to advanced placement courses, updated materials, smaller class sizes, and college counseling that actually has time to support them. At Central Falls, students are often expected to achieve the same outcomes without being given the same tools. That imbalance is not accidental. It is the result of a system that ties educational opportunity to wealth and location. These students are given teachers who may be less qualified or have emergency certifications.  Johnson’s work helps explain why situations like this are so often dismissed or misunderstood. When people benefit from well funded schools, it is easy for them to believe their success was entirely earned.